I went for lunch on Thursday. The space is very pretty (as in all of their locations I presume). The food was fine. My dish was ok, but I wouldn't order it again. I had a special: Tartine of Roasted Peaches, Prosciutto, Parmesan and Asparagus. The asparagus seemed like an afterthought, and strangely, the peaches were crunchy. A friend got the black bean soup and said that they seemed to have forgotten the beans. Others in my group seemed fairly happy with their food. The Tartine portions seem small by American standards, and I don't have a large appetite.

On the way out, I picked up a croissant and a Madeleine. The croissant was delicious. It was warm, and among the better ones I've had in DC. The Madeleine, which was more Madeleine batter in a small cake form, was also very good. I will definitely be back for the pastries.

The biggest problems I attribute to it having opened recently. The service was friendly, but incredibly slow and somewhat inattentive. It took more than a half hour for our food to arrive. One person in our group had gotten a cheese muffin and a soup. The muffin arrived very quickly, leaving all of us staring longingly at it until the rest of the food arrived. After we had waited about 25 minutes, our server stopped by to apologize for the wait (for the first time) and offer us some bread while we waited. We also had to ask for more water, and it never arrived. I asked a different server for more water. He filled my glass, but then turned to leave, ignoring the other empty glasses at the table. These are all little things which I expect will improve with time.

The main reason I would go back for a meal is because I work nearby, it's a pleasant, mid-priced lunch spot, and seems like it has more potential than it showed in its first month open. But no matter how the meal service ends up, I will definitely return for pastries.

I went to one in L.A. years ago and thought that the bread was great but the sandwiches just annoying. Why do they insist on having open faced sandwiches with non-adhering ingredients? The food falls off. Why can't they just make them regular sandwiches?